I’ve written quite a bit about the Stop Killing Games movement, in no small part because I think it’s way more important than most people think. Preserving cultural output is both impor…
So what prevents a game developer from making a free game that you have to pay money for characters to even play the game? I mean, I would like to think “people wouldn’t play it” but that is overestimating some of the idiots alive on the planet right now.
Would really appreciate if this also applied to free games. Any game with a required online component, free or not, should be required to make an update at EoS to make the game playable offline. Any kind of exemption in regulations is going to be instantly abused as a loophole.
You are describing a Free 2 play game monetized with micro transactions.
At least in Europe, the Stop Killing Games group would argue that those micro transactions would be considered buying a perpetual license to that good (the skin/character), and thus it would be a breach of contract for the publisher to arbitrarily remove your ability to access that content. They would need an end of life plan so the buyer could reasonably still access the goods they purchased after the publisher drops support.
Only a truly free game where no money changes hands would be exempt from the legislation, or perhaps a game that was subscription based up-front, as then it makes clear you are only purchasing access to the content for a finite amount of time.
I’m sure there are plenty of other loopholes you can’t even imgine, but trying to pass the perfect bill is a good way to ensure no bill will ever pass.
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So what prevents a game developer from making a free game that you have to pay money for characters to even play the game? I mean, I would like to think “people wouldn’t play it” but that is overestimating some of the idiots alive on the planet right now.
Would really appreciate if this also applied to free games. Any game with a required online component, free or not, should be required to make an update at EoS to make the game playable offline. Any kind of exemption in regulations is going to be instantly abused as a loophole.
You are describing a Free 2 play game monetized with micro transactions.
At least in Europe, the Stop Killing Games group would argue that those micro transactions would be considered buying a perpetual license to that good (the skin/character), and thus it would be a breach of contract for the publisher to arbitrarily remove your ability to access that content. They would need an end of life plan so the buyer could reasonably still access the goods they purchased after the publisher drops support.
Only a truly free game where no money changes hands would be exempt from the legislation, or perhaps a game that was subscription based up-front, as then it makes clear you are only purchasing access to the content for a finite amount of time.
I think you are confused about what constitues a “completely free game” as it is called in the legiislation.
I’m sure there are plenty of other loopholes you can’t even imgine, but trying to pass the perfect bill is a good way to ensure no bill will ever pass.